Terminator2029

Hi folks,

I recently purchased a brand-new 2014 ML63. My less-than-desirable experience with the purchasing process and overall build quality has forced to me to write this post.

To set the stage, I pretty much abide by the "Work hard, play hard" life game rule and have bought several luxury vehicles in the last few years. The last two cars were 2012 QX56 and 2013 CTS-V. The build quality of the Infiniti was awesome. The Cadillac did not disappoint me in any aspects as well. Both cars arrived directly from their factories as special orders, without any damages, neither cosmetic imperfections, not physical scratches/dents/etc., in perfect condition throughout exterior and interior. This has set certain expectations in me when I committed myself to an ML63 AMG. This is where the story begins.

I ordered a fully loaded 2014 ML63 which was built on 7th of November 2013. The car has every single option, except trailer hitch. Whoever was in charge of the quality assurance at the assembly line on that date does not deserve to call them professionals. I will summarize the main issues as follows:

• The interior elements covered in leather are damaged is several places. In one location (passenger’s door handle), it seems like there was a hole made by a sharp object, which they (factory employees) patched on the spot, leaving a noticeable deviation in the texture (see attached).
• The driver’s door has a dent in the leather element that even resulted in discoloration. It was not repaired at the factory, and the damage was left “as is”.
• There are signs of glue on the leather. I guess this is what they use to affix the wooden panel to the door trim.
• The car came without the carbon fiber engine cover despite me paying for the P30 performance package. After the initial pushback from the dealership telling me that the plastic cover installed in my car is in fact just a different type of the CF cover, they admitted that there was a supplier issue with the CF engine covers on a batch of ML63 AMG units produced. The proper CF cover was ordered, however it is not clear when it will arrive. The biggest issue with this one is that both the factory and the dealership tried to hide the situation. I would not mind if I was advised about the mess-up at the time of delivery. We could then have been able to have a meaningful conversation and come up with an acceptable resolution plan. However, they tried to rely on buyer’s incompetence, hoping I will not notice the substitution.
• The area of the body near rear license plate holder was scratched in several places, perhaps when somebody at the dealership was installing their fancy ad-based license plate frame with their hands shaking.
• The car came with a highly visible scratch on the front fender. The dealership tried to repair it while I was in the finance office, and they failed. I drove away with a brand-new car that already has scratches. Ridiculous!
• There is a stone chip on the hood, which appears to have been the result of driving my car from the dealership’s facility to the gas station AFTER the protective foil was removed. In my opinion, only a brainless employee can do that.

In summary, I’m extremely disappointed with build quality of my ML63. No matter how picky I am, there is no excuse - the AMG brand and its price range should not leave any grounds for being disappointed.

I hope most of the issues could be rectified, however the overall bad experience coupled with total frustration as I was discovering these problems one by one will still leave a bad taste about the quality of what’s supposed to be a luxurious exclusive brand.

If you have recently purchased a new ML, please share your experiences and observations with the build quality, especially your cars’ interior.


PS: Unfortunately, all pictures got resized when uploading and these could not naturally reflect the true extent of the imperfections I tried to capture. In the reality, everything looks much worse.

Chasvs

OMG

kperry215

Wow...I have an ML550 on order to be delivered at the end of January. Now I feel like I need to spend a couple of hours at the dealer going over it with a fine tooth comb. Sorry to hear about all the issues. I hope the dealer makes it right for you!

Nanook

I feel your pain.
Unacceptable and disappointing to say the least..Easy for me to say but I wouldn't have accepted the vehicle...at least without a sit down with the dealership owner and a definite plan of a manner to satisfy your possible acceptance.
I know you're in a difficult spot now having taken the vehicle home but would not let this diminish the effect you express onto the dealership that you want these deficiencies dealt with to your acceptance or you return the vehicle. I'd think the interior damages could be made good with replacement leather pieces..and a good body shop certainly could make those paint blemishes disappear and a sort of financial restitution may help ease the situation...accessories, service etc..really too bad the level of high expectations has been breached..I feel your pain..
My vehicle, although it had 5k kms, was very much pristine and having the mocha interior really shows stains etc to the leather.
It's difficult enough to have to live through our first blemish whether it be a rock chip, door ding or other let alone having to experience it from the dealer. If it's any help I know there are leather/vinyl repairs co.s that can make those marks absolutely disappear..

Quadcammer

jeez dude, those defects in the leather seem very minor, as does the stone chip.

a few minutes with a good detailer should fix the paint.

I know you expect perfection, but these things wouldn't bother me much

Nanook

After receiving my brand new $130,000 (CDN) plus car I'd be down right pissed let alone bothered

fabbrisd1

Where are you located that took 1 month for factory delivery - West Coast ?

Is this San Fernando Valley ?

Terminator2029

Whilst the scratches and chips are indeed subject to a fairly straightforward repair, the leather is damaged structurally. These defect should not have gone through factory’s quality control! I will stand by my opinion and will have to point out that factory defects like these ones are NOT acceptable on a $125K vehicle!


As noted in the original email, the pictures could not naturally reflect the true extent of all "imperfections". In reality, everything looks much worse.

Nanook

I'd bet they may have been done at the dealership..

Terminator2029

Unlikely. Both front doors have had their carton and plastic protectors attached when I took the delivery. The sales guy removed them right before I drove away.

Nanook

Hmm...so what's the dealership manager say ?

Terminator2029

Built on 11/7, delivered to WA on 12/3.

Terminator2029

Nothing to date. Still waiting for their response.

Nanook

Well if it's any consolation....you will luv it..get the ECM to Renntech asap !! it will give the V a good run..

jtorrebl

I go my ml550 3 days Ago and the interior is flawless. Got the nappa leather and it is so fine and smooth that any imperfection will stand out. I didn't get the designo package like you so I don't have as much leather that could be damaged along the way. This isn't an build issue as much as it is a quality control issue.
You know after a few months you would have gotten these dings anyway with daily use , but should have come perfect all along. This is highly unusual

Benz Werd

Hello Terminator2029 I'm with you on this one, that is totally disgraceful.

I would be going bizerk if it was me!

The damaged items are one thing, but the whole cover up scenario with the carbon fibre engine cover is totally unacceptable, and yes, more than likely they just thought "too hard, let's just hope the customer won't notice". I'll be getting under my car now to ensure the extra under-body protection IS actually fitted which is meant to be part of the ON & OFF Road pack that I opted for, although I'm not sure if I'll be able to tell. Might have to compare it to another one at the dealer.

I too was very excited on the day of delivery just on 11 months ago now, and only looked over the car briefly before driving off and heading home. Once home and parked in full sunlight I noticed a small mark on my beatiful designo leather that to me looked like a pen mark. It's almost a straight line and almost an inch long. The following day I had my windows tinted and afterwards that made the pen mark quite difficult to see, so I wasn't overly concerened about it anymore. However, I did take a photo before the windows were tinted and emailed it to the sales rep and they told me they couldn't see anything as the screen on their phone was small so they asked me to pop in when I had a chance. I did that 2 days later and they again claimed they couldn't see anything but as mentioned I'd already had the windows done so it wasn't as visible anymore. There's also a bit of a crease in the nappa leather on my wrapped dash, and now the nappa leather on the drivers seat is wearing quickly on the edge where I slide my butt over it when getting in & out of the car. I'm not a big bloke, only 68kgs, and the car has only done 15,000kms. I'll be bringing the drivers seat to their attention on my first service in February. We had a similar issue with an E90 BMW we owned, and they repalced the whole seat cushion under warranty so let's hope MB will do the same as it's definitely premature wear.

I've had Benzes for years, and this is my 2nd ML500. I do love it, however I can see that the quality has dropped with this latest one. My W164 was rock solid in every aspect, and I expected this one to be better, but I'm still having trouble finding that.

What a huge disappointment for your though, being your first Benz, and having all this to contend with.

I will be very interested to see the outcome and what your dealer or MBUSA does to rectify the situation for you.

Anyway, I do hope you are able to look past everything for now and get a chance to enjoy your new beast.

Cheers, and seasons greetings from over the pond!

buckeyewalt

I WAS looking to order a ML550, but after hearing the issues regarding quality and mechanical issues I think I have some reservations about getting one. I'm still in my X5 50i but was planning on moving into the ML550. In the case of the ML63AMG, I would have refused delivery of the vehicle, but since you drove it off the lot, your only recourse would be to have those items fixed unless MBUSA would do a buy back. I still like the ML550 but on the fence now, especially since they are coming out with a refresh in mid'14.

dk10438

this statement is absurd and completely insensitive. The OP bought a new 100K plus car so i don't think that it's unreasonable to expect a certain level of quality. IMO the build quality of the ML is crap, granted I only have the 13 ML350 and OP's car is quite different but there are some common parts. Wait 'til the tailgate stops working or the some other annoying issue pops up. My 13 month old car already has annoying creaks and rattles (not to mention the 45 days it spent in the shop the first 13 months of ownership). My 2007 Carrera is on super stiff coilovers and has fewer rattles than the ML.

To the OP, if you are disappointed with the initial build quality, wait for another 18 months and I am willing to bet you will be thoroughly disgusted.

EVOII_Racer

Terminator, your dealer really fu your ml63 no doubt!! There is no way your ml came out of the factory like that they do too many checks inside out!

When I took delivery of mine everything was perfect and no build quality issues at all.

Also the cf engine cover is unacceptable!

I feel really sorry for you Val I can just imagine how you feel... I hope all your issues will be fixed soon!

Did you get the red calipers on your ride and the alcantara steering at least or they fu that too?

Taymar16

I agree, the interior issues that you mentioned are not factory issues. If there is a hole in the seat, that seat is DMT'd and sent back to the supplier who is 10 min down the road from the plant. They can have a new seat within the hour. I'm not saying issues don't get by because they do. When you make 200k cars a year, somethings are going to get by no matter how many quality loops you have in place. I would be pissed as well and would have the dealership make it right, regardless of whose fault it really is (factory, MBUSA, transportation company or dealership). Hope everything works out.

Terminator2029

Yes, I did get the red calipers and the AMG performance steering wheel. At least, they didn't mess up with these parts. It still feels disgusting though - the sticker says "P30 Performance Package including ... carbon fiber engine cover, ...", which doesn't exist. A clear act of false illustration and misleading advertisement.

Terminator2029

Hi guys,

Thank you for all your comments and psycho-support!

Please just don't get me wrong. One part of me says "Hey, these are peanuts! Everything is repairable or replaceable". The other part could not mentally agree with the overall treatment from the manufacturer/dealership, along the lines of "let's swap a couple of things and leave a few defects ‘as is’, a buyer paying this kind of price is blindly stupid and incompetent anyway". I never expected this from Mercedes-Benz and/or their affiliates.

I'm a reasonable guy who respects when thing go wrong during the car purchasing process as long as I'm being told about it. In my situation, I unfortunately discovered all issues (except the scratches and chips) after leaving dealer’s premises. As a result, several factors added up into a negative experience with the brand, quality and the last mile during the purchase process.

The dealership was already contacted. I will circle back on this thread once an acceptable resolution is executed, or I encounter more issues along the way.

firefox2000

I'm really sorry to hear about your ML63. I agree that its unacceptable for a brand that bills itself as providing exceptional service and quality to deliver any vehicle in that shape and then try to hide it. I can't say that my Mercedes experience has been all that exceptional which has been disappointing since this is my first Mercedes.

In another thread I noted that when I first went to pick up my ML350 about 3 weeks ago there was a deep scratch on the AMG rim, a chip on the door and swirl marks all over my car. Good thing I brought my brother who manages an auto body shop that does a lot of Mercedes work so he was able to point out a few things. They wanted to just really quickly touch up the chip but my brother was no you also have to apply clear. The dealer also messed up the financing with my credit union after I told them on numerous occasions on how it was to be financed etc. It worked out in the end but the added confusion and stress was not needed. My salesperson always seemed to have a sense of being in a hurry trying to rush through everything.

I didn't accept delivery and came back 2 days later and everything was taken care of. To my dismay I found a scratch on another rim which wasn't there 2 days before and I pointed it out. This time I could see that the salesman was visibly upset as he kept saying I don't know how that happened as he purposely told everyone not to move the car so that this sort of thing wouldn't occur. He also said I had looked over the car so carefully last time that how didn't we find it. My feeling was that these scratches shouldn't have been there in first place! It did feel as if he was making it seem like it was my fault. I honestly was torn at that point whether to even take the vehicle. In any case I did and will be going back tomorrow to have the rim fixed and have them look at my engine as it makes a horrific loud noise when started cold. There is another thread about this where the noise is recorded but mine is even louder. I can say though that the interior is very nice and thankfully I didn't have any issues with my leather.

Dealerships are the face of the brand and I think they get too complacent. My experience did leave a sour taste with me and I'm already contemplating whether I would purchase another Mercedes. If I do it won't be with my current dealership. I hope your dealer can find acceptable resolution to your issues.

ChrisMclass

Wow! Terminator I feel your pain especially when it comes to the dealership trying to hide something like the fact your plastic cover was the CF cover. I too just had an issue with the dealership covering things up. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that tech's or detail guys were stealing them off vehicles to sell on Ebay, stuff like that has happened at many a dealership in the past.

I am sure you will come to a resolution with either the dealership or MBUSA, hopefully it will be to your liking.

I think other than the few things you have found wrong with the interior and the couple paint mishaps I will say you will find pleasure in driving the ML63, ear to ear pleasure So don't give up on MB yet my friend!

Terminator2029

Hey firefox2000!

Wow! What a mess! Hope you reflected your experience in the after-sale survey, which I'm personally looking forward to completing myself soon.

The above is exactly why I don't want to authorize doing any minor repairs. No guarantee that nothing else (i.e. something bigger) surface in additional damages.